The Grand Manner, a play by A. R. Gurney at the Lincoln Center Theater (Mitzi E. Newhouse). The Grand Manner is a gentle meditation by A. R. Gurney on what it means to be "grand" in the theater, and how one generation's grandeur can seem old-fashioned to a new generation.
Certainly the generation at this play was mostly old enough to have seen Katharine Cornell, and one man wheezed "Candida!" when Kate Burton, playing Cornell, mentioned Shaw's play. Another very elderly woman, who may well have seen Bernhardt, had a great deal of trouble with her hearing aid.
This play feels not quite finished, as if it's an enjoyable summerstock effort (something one would gratefully see at Williamstown), but not quite ready for prime time. The cast is excellent. Kate Burton is graceous as Cornell, showing quite a bit of the luminosity she was known for, while Boyd Gaines is superb as Guthrie McClintock her famous director-husband. Brenda Wehle is good in supporting part, but I found Bobby Steggert, though very smooth in his part, irritating, which is perhaps how we are supposed to feel about this importunate autograph seeker (ouch!).
Many critics noted that what is missing in the play is Cornell's "grand manner" and it is. But then, who could bring this to the American stage today? I'm old enough to have seen Eva Le Gallienne, who had the "grand manner" in spades. But who today, at least on this side of the ocean (Maggie Smith certainly does), has it? Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade B